To be fair it's probably Opel who make them uglier, then Vauxhall get given it and they just get to add a grille and badges. Vauxhall are little more than a manufacturing and import company now, much like say Honda UK. They just make what they're given by the parent company, they no longer have any development facilities of their own. Ford despite always being an American company, still has a large R&D facility in Essex.

I expect we'll probably see the Vauxhall and possibly even the Opel brands disappear eventually in the same way Talbot, Singer, Hillman and Humber did.

My understanding is PSA now view Citroen as their budget brand, Peugeot as their mid range and DS as their luxury brand. Where's Vauxhall/Opel going to fit into that?